Beverage entrepreneurs and SME are changing the industry. Why is that? Ten years ago entrepreneurs had to work with beverage development, production, marketing and distribution at the same time. The problem was that they couldn’t cover all of these topics at the same time. However, new trend is emerging. Currently we see a new trend which will change the industry during the next 5 years.
Nowadays, smart beverage entrepreneurs (or smart companies) are focusing on gathering team of professionals or partners with whom they could launch new products. Usually it is an alliance of several companies who are covering specific fields in beverage industry. It depends on the project, however, usually alliance is being formed with creative agencies, beverage development companies, distributors or even retailers. You have to be very careful before choosing your partners. These companies have to be professionals in their field, they have to add value to your project. In case you will choose wrong partners your project will fail.
Strong alliance can increase your success rate dramatically. For example, you own a company which works in retail and HoReCa sectors. You have already established a big number of outlets where you are selling your products. The day comes when you decide to develop your unique drink and launch it in your market. However, the problem is that you do not have any resources and knowledge in marketing and beverage development. What should you do?
You need to collaborate with industry professionals. Your decision to find professional partners in marketing (ideas) can save you a lot of time and money for marketing development. Lets move forward. You have to find partners who are professionals in beverage development and production (here is what we are for). Beverage development company will help you to develop your recipe, confirm formula and solve all your problems regarding production. While at the same time you will be able to focus on distribution of your product. There are both advantages and disadvantages in this type of collaboration:
Advantages
1. Everyone is doing their job, so you can expect fewer mistakes.
2. You can save a lot of time and to decrease project development stage up to 2-3 months (usually it is 7-12 months).
3. You can lower your investment size for the project. The reason of this is that you will be able to test the project and evaluate it much faster. In case you will be developing everything by yourself it can take up to 12 months to prepare everything. Just imagine how much money you will be spent during this time?
4. You will not have to hire additional staff for other parts of business where you are not professional enough. Just imagine saving bunch of money for not hiring additional staff for marketing, production management etc. . You will not have to pay additional taxes, cover traveling cost, phone calls etc. .
Disadvantages
1. Who will be the lead partner and owner of the brand? Ownership issue is the main problem. You have to find the best method to work with your partners. Sometimes companies might be interested to become a shareholder of your brand or in other way they will be interested only to get their commission. It requires a lot of negotiations. Think about it before moving forward.
2. Trust. Do you trust your partners? Do you know them? Have you done any business with them before? Talk with their clients. Try to understand your partner. In depth analysis will take some time, however, it will provide a lot of useful information.
In our opinion, collaboration is the future in beverage industry. Focus on what you’re good at, and nothing else! You will increase your success rate dramatically.
